Cephiran Snapshots
by sciathan file
Summary: A collection of drabbles and short stories involving a variety of characters and pairings in the Magic Knight Rayearth world.
1. Size Does Indeed Matter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rayearth or any other Clamp works that happen to be used within this. I just dabble in Clamp's world for a while.

**A/N:** What follows is a thoroughly random collection of drabbles and short stories that I have written for the Rayearth fandom of various pairings and with various characters.

**I. Size Does Indeed Matter**

**Napoleon**

He looked into the mirror….standing on tiptoes.

Of course he did this where no one could see him…such behavior was not fitting for the Master Mage.

But Clef utterly failed.

He was simply…he did not want to say _short_...just not _tall_.

Flicking his wrist, he elevated himself into the air…so _that_ was what the world looked like from _other_ people's perspective.

There was a knock on the door.

He fell awkwardly.

_Damn Mirror, _Clef cursed under his breath.

He cast a lightning spell on it, as if it was the cause of his height deficiency…

He would simply ignore it.

**Perhaps That's Not What the Creator Intended**

Ever since his trip to the Magic Knights's hometown, he had been unable to get the image of the _moo-vee_ out of his head….it was something called _Godzilla_.

That made him ponder something that he had long ago taken as a forgone fact and wonder exactly how far it could be taken…

Taking his staff, he chanted the words of the spell.

Much later, in the great hall, Umi dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Looking up at his now ten foot tall figure, only Fuu who could venture a comment.

"Perhaps that's not what the Creator intended, Clef-san…"


	2. Worth A Thousand Words

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rayearth or any other Clamp works that happen to be used within this. I just dabble in Clamp's world for a while.

**II. Worth A Thousand Words**

**Photographs**

His child-like hands glided over the photograph.

He did not completely understand it…It was magic beyond even the Master Mage.

But the magic wasn't important.

Fuu had taken the picture on the girls' last vacation. It showed Umi, her fingers in a V, and him smiling awkwardly (he was told to "watch the birdy…?").

She had written something in her own language on the back. He had looked at it as if it were some sort of incantation.

Umi merely smiled when he had asked about the meaning of the spell.

She had written: "So you won't be lonely."

**The Enemy**

He had tapped it and it had reacted in a very bizarre manner.

It _flashed_.

Clef leapt back, clutching his staff tightly. This was what Fuu called "tek-nol-o-gee."

Clef called it "the enemy."

Why in the name of the Pillar had Umi left the tek-nol-o-gee with him?

He tapped it with the end of his staff. It flashed again. Clef retaliated…summoning a lightning bolt.

It smoldered and emitted a horrid smell.

The realization that he had killed Umi's tek-nol-o-gee dawned on him.

Coughing into his small hand, he silently called a ward up around the room.

He would need it.


	3. Cruel Fate

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rayearth or any other Clamp works that happen to be used within this. I just dabble in Clamp's world for a while.

**III. Cruel Fate**

**A/N: **The following drabble is a crossover with xxxHolic.

**Hitsuzen**

"The price to fulfill your wish will be very steep."

The tall, dark woman flung the hem of her dressing gown to the side, gazing at the golden haired child.

"It may not turn out well for you, however, if I allow you to change the existing system."

The girl nodded.

The woman left for a minute, bringing back a white creature that looked like a pork bun, dropping it through the portal before her that connected the two worlds.

Yuuko frowned as Mokona was given to Princess Emeraude.

Mokona would call the others and return.

Hitsuzen was at work.

**Marshmallow**

Sometimes he watched the world with a critical eye. It was awash with undertones of silver – the crystal mountain, the glistening sea, the pale hints within the flames of the volcano.

But everyone else seemed to miss this.

Instead, one girl chased him and threatened to eat him, one regarded him with amusement (mostly due to the aforementioned threats) and the last regarded him as a novelty…she always pulled his cheeks and watched herself in his shiny red jewel.

Mokona let out a nostalgic "Puu."

Sometimes he wished they would show the Creator of Cephiro a little more respect.

**Tickle!**

Lying in a tree, sleeping as usual, Ferio was unaware of the triple threat that was slowly approaching him. Fuu, through a purely accidental stroke (for she would not be so impolite as to do so with malicious intent) had discovered that the prince was rather ticklish. She had at first been rather embarrassed to relate this information to anyone else...but it was very dangerous to resist Umi in one of her moods.

And, she would also tactfully pretend that it was purely Umi's fault that he was about to be subjected to such crude treatment…

At least that was what she would tell _him_ that…

Hikaru started to giggle but was immediately silenced by a pointed look from Umi.

The tickling commenced.

Ferio fell from his branch.

Fuu immediately backed away and affected a look of innocence, leaving Umi and Hikaru in a rather guilty looking position.


	4. Syncretism

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rayearth or any other Clamp works that happen to be used within this. I just dabble in Clamp's world for a while.

**IV. Syncretism**

**Strange Symbols**

The girls had temporarily left out what they had been working on. It was a great network of symbols and strange signs and a runic alphabet he had not yet encountered in all his long years.

Clef had heard that it was called "Mat-ee-mat-iks."

He scratched his head in vein, but was suddenly distracted by a square object flashing a strange message: "07734." Perhaps a phrase of great significance? The box baffled him…perhaps a translator?

Perhaps Mat was a funny thing…the Magic Knights _had_ been laughing.

Still perplexed, he left to research this new runic alphabet called "Mat-ee-mat-iks."

**Everyday Use**

None of the Magic Knights were certain what to expect on their shopping expedition with Caldina…but after seeing the dazzling silky fabrics and exotic designs they were all very glad that they had come.

However, they were learning that Caldina had quite a different taste in clothes than the rest of them.

Fuu looked at one number that she had chosen…a beautiful deep green color…that showed far too much, and blushed.

"Caldina-san…is this Chizetan lingerie?" Hikaru and Umi both seemed to want to know the same thing as they examined the outfits she had taken out for them.

Caldina was incredibly confused.

"Lawn-jur-aay?" She shook her head, looking at the outfit she was wearing currently, "No these are for everyday use around here."

At that answer, Fuu looked vaguely queasy.


	5. The Red Queen

**The Red Queen**

Sciathan File

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Rayearth. Scion is mine, however, she can be pilfered with permission. And, sorry for the Gothic Romantic style….this is what happens when I write in chemistry while talking about nucleotides. Did I mention it's really very bizarre?

She lay, spread among the glinting steel, her ivory skin brilliant against her red dressing gown. Everything about her, from the unnatural paleness of her skin to the long, slender bones of her fingers gave the impression that the woman was no more than skeleton being magically animated by some cunning sorcerer.

Her wrists were encircled by tubes pulsating with murky, yet luminescent liquids, looping around her thin wrists and crossing through out her body in artful arrangements, as jewelry was worn by the rulers of other planets.

The throne that she was stretched upon, and from which she only moved due to great necessity, glinted with the hard edges of steel girders decorated by a complicated spiraling network of pistons that chugged and bellowed forth steam, rumbling quietly and flashing in the stark lighting.

The woman's boney fingers moved in a _tap, tap, tap_ motion, producing a slight fluttering of the red gauze of her gown at each movement.

Bur her eyes could not be seen. No, they were hidden behind a darkened visor that was crowned by a myriad of blinking signal lights. From this she could see her entire world and feed it her last vestiges of mental energy until she slowly gave out.

Joining the majority of their people in their slow misery, she raised one white hand to her mouth and coughed, sounding like a jammed cog in the great machine. Liquid the color of her gown stained onto the pale skin and was quickly wiped away.

This woman was the bleeding, pulsating heart at the center of Autozam.

Scion.

The red queen.

Her visitors looked on with steely eyes. Scion, nodded her head and laboriously sat up, tubes trailing behind her, and leaned her head on a thin, meatless elbow.

"So Lantis, it seems you have returned and brought me a visitor."

Her smile was gentle, and not unlike Eagle's. It seemed to stand in sharp contrast to her frightening exterior. She ran her long fingers through her thinning hair and looked intently at the other one.

"I am Scion, little one, the terrible queen of a dying country." She smiled at her own irony, "What are you called?"

Lantis' companion bowed politely, but then looked up bravely, compassion brimming in her eyes.

"I am Shidou Hikaru, donner of Rayearth and former Pillar of Cephiro."

She gave a small sigh of relief. She had spent the entire journey here rehearsing what Clef had told her and was proud that she hadn't forgotten any of the customs of Autozam thus far.

The red queen smiled again, this time with a note of worry in her face. The worry slipped into a look of utter resignation as she heard and processed the word "_Cephiro_."

"So, my son is dead at last."

There was a note of resignation in her voice.

"And Eagle shall merely be the first of many. We cannot sustain what we have started."

Hikaru looked surprised. She looked at Lantis for assistance but was interrupted by Scion. The red queen herself had turned sharply to Lantis, suddenly jabbing a finger at him.

"You should not have returned here. Eagle would be disappointed that you have risked this."

Hikaru did not know how to respond to the woman's sudden change of heart at first. So she did the only thing she was capable of.

She marched up the throne and took Scion's hand in her own, looked her square in the face.

"Eagle isn't dead, Scion-sama. Lantis and I came to tell you that he has woken up."

There was a very long silence between them in which only the throbbing noise of the inner workings of Autozam could be heard.

"Little Pillar," she said quietly, "Thank you. I know he can do no good for us, but…thank you."

"He will come back when he is better and can travel…"she trailed off for a moment, "Clef just thought you should know. Eagle will set you right!"

Scion put one skeletal hand on Hikaru's cheek, stroking it tenderly.

"There are many kinds of Pillars child," she gestured expansively to the networks of machinery around her, "Eagle merely wished to trade one for the other. But we must pay for what we have done, even if it is a terrible price. He is better to stay away and not see this."

To Scion's surprise, despite the serious tenor of her comment, her visitor smiled. A hard look of determination became evident in Hikaru's face.

"It was possible to change Cephiro's system. Lantis, and Eagle, and Clef, and everyone helped to free the Pillar. I promise we will free you, too."

A living flame lived in this girl's eyes, a red ember full of vitality and strength.

She had Eagle back now, and she had this girl's promise.

It was the first time in what seemed to be many eternities that something so red had given Scion hope.

A/N: This is quite a change of pace from the other works I have in here…this is a short story from a very bizarre plot bunny that I had in response to the theme "Autozam" for an LJ community. I actually won "Best Use of Language and Description" for it. I apologize for the incredible degree of weirdness. This sounds like the start of a multi-chaptered fic that I will never write… Anyways…if this catches your fancy and you want to write a full version…ask and perhaps I will grant your request to adopt Scion.


	6. Knowledge

**VII. Knowledge**

**Revelation**

For Suzanami

It was then, he recalled, that he had figured out that she was different.

The memories of her that he now possessed had been like a stream after a long winter frost - at first they had come in a trickle, and finally a torrent of hues and textures that gave way to emotions long unfelt.

He felt like they all led back to that one revelation. Now, he couldn't help but smile as the images of her danced through his head with a slow, tragic grace.

The night he had first seen her - had first _understood_ her – was much like this.

The sky had been clear and velvety, with the stars strewn across it. He lay on his back, looking up at them, tracing a lazy line from one cold glint to the next and finally to Windam's glowing mountain. His finger, making its meandering way along its accustomed path, also cut an arch through his memories.

Each star had a halo that reminded him of the glow of distant candles. This was the substance of the ethereal aura that had seemed to cling to his sister.

And until a night like this one, Ferio had never noticed Emeraude's glow.

Indeed, the naivety of childhood had prevented him from questioning why the Master Mage of Cephiro was so well acquainted with his family or even wondering at the hushed conversations between Guru Clef and his mother.

With the hindsight and sagacity that accompanies age, Ferio could see the importance of such events as the old Pillar was fading away. At that point, it had merely been a sign that he should escape adult tedium and flee to the woods, wooden sword in hand.

His mother was always wary of him entering the woods, which were filled with steadily increasing populations of monsters. But he was brave enough. But it wasn't bravery he kept returning to the forests to find. He was always hoping that he would catch a glimpse of his sister, who always walked into the woods and disappeared until she would come back, later in the night, holding a single candle in front of her.

Ferio had only managed to find her once. Candle in hand, singing her light airy hymn, he had rushed to her and seized her in a childish embrace. In return, she merely mussed his hair and sent him back to the small cottage at the edge of the woods and the safe arms of the mother that, she assured him, was even now pacing worriedly looking for him.

After that, all his brief adventures into the soft shadows of the ancient trees were in vain. Emeraude seemed to be able to pass out of space and time away from him.

In fact, she always seemed to be slightly out of reach, even when Ferio could still reach out and grab her hand as the rumors of the monsters made their way to the small village where they lived.

He had never understood it until the night when he had finally found her amidst the trees again.

The starlight lit his way to a clearing that emitted a soft glow.

A song drifted to him on the brisk breeze.

Ferio ran forward, stopping abruptly at the edge of the wide expanse of green. Because, even then, something in him contained his childhood energy.

There was an undeniably sacred area about the place. He didn't feel as if he was allowed.

The forest glen was rimmed in the light of a hundred candles, the smaller creatures of the forest gazing up at a sight in the middle of the clearing.

In the middle danced Emeraude, who smiled and sang a song that seemed to bind the world about her together. Everything seemed to have reached a serene peace within the little clearing. Even the remaining light seemed to cling to her until she, in his own childish mind, seemed more like a star that had come down to grace the earth with her presence rather than his sister.

Ferio knew, at that point, that Emeraude was different from anyone else in Cephiro.

Gazing up at the starlight, he sighed, and, drifting into a deep sleep underneath the sheltering sky, he dreamed of his sister singing roses into existence and dancing in the soft glow of the candlelight in the world she loved.

**Fin**

**A/N:** This was written due to a request of "Ferio, candles, and furry woodland creatures" from Suzanami on the Cephiro forums. She also loves Emeraude and Ferio sibling fic, which is pretty much nonexistent. Again, it's quite a different tone and I haven't really written Ferio into anything before…so it was a bit of experimentation on my part. Again, I do take requests. You can either post on my LJ (the link is included in my profile, just please let me know where you came from), you can leave it in a review, or you can PM me.

Thank you again for reading!


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